Flush tank control valve



Sept. 25, 1951 J. c. owENs FLUSH TANK CONTROL VALVE s 2 snets-sheet 1 Filed Allg. 27, 1946 INVENTOR. :K555i C. O/ViA/s,

L BY

J. c. OWENS 2,569,017

FLUSH TANK CONTROL VALVE 2 Sheets-SheetI 2 INVENToR. 272-555 C. U14/ENS,

Sept. 25, 1951 Filed Aug. 27, 1946 Patented Sept. 25, 1951 UNITED STATES FLUSH TANK CONTROL VALVE .l esse C. Owens,

Los Angeles, Calif" Application August 27, 1946, serial No. 693,37?,

2 Claims.

This invention relates to float valves of the type commonly employed to control the supply of water to toilet ush tanks.

An object of my present invention is to provide a control valve of the character indicated, which is distinguished by a novel type of construction which adapts it to be produced entirely from screw machine products, i. e., which does not require any castings or forgings, and wh-ich, accordingly, is of an unusually simple and inexpensive construction, requiring only a minimum of space within a flush tank and also characterized by unusual facility of assembly and minimum liability of its getting out of order, and yet which is highly efficient and positive in operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel type of interconnection between the valve and the oat by which it is actuated, which interconnection is substantially irreversible to the extent that when the valve is in its fully closed position, iiuid pressures far in 4excess of those for which my control is designed cannot lift the valve from its seat, thus providing greater assurance against any leakage from the water supply into an already filled ush tank until the level of the water stored within the flush tank has been suitably lowered.

A further object of the present invention is to provide, in a toilet flush tank supply valve of the general character described, highly eicient and unusually simple anti-siphonic construction for the positive prevent of the drainage of contaminated water from the flush tank or from the toilet xture associated therewith, back into the water supply system, which might -otherwise occur if and when the supply of water fails and a partial vacuumA develops in the supply pipe leading to the storage tank.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be Set forth in the following description of the preferred forms of my invention which are illustrated in the drawings accompanying and forming part of the specification. It is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the showing made by the said drawings and description, as I may adopt variations of the preferred forms within the scope of my invention as set forth in the claims.

-. Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a conventional Itoilet fixture flush tank with a control valve incorporating the principles of' the present invention operably installed therein.

Figure 2 is an enlarged View in vertical, medial section taken through the control valve of Figure .1, the plane of section being indicated by the line 2-2 of that ligure and the direction of view by the arrows.

y Figure 3 is a view in side elevation of theupper portion of the control valve of Figure 2, the direction of view being indicated by the arrow 3 2 of Figure 1. This ligure shows the valve-actuating mechanism in the position which it occupies when the flush tank is properly filled and the oat at its upper extreme -of movement.

Figure 4 is a View similar to Figure 3, but with the parts in the respective positions lassumed thereby when the tank is empty and the float in its lowermost position.

Figure 5 is a horizontal sectional View taken upon the line 5--5 of Figure 3, with the direction of view as indicated.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the valve and valve housing of Figure 2 removed from the other portions of the structure.

Figure 7 is a View similar to Figure 3, but showing `a slightly modied form of control valve incorporating the principles of the present invention.

Figure 8 is a more highly enlarged view in vertical, medial section of the valve in Figure 7.

i Referring first to that modiation of my invention which is illustrated in Figures 1 to 6 inclusive, my improved control valve comprises a valve housing II of substantially tubular form and mounted upon the upper end of an inlet tube I2 which is adapted to be secured to a suitable source of water under pressure such as Ia supply pipe I3. The inlet tube I2 is mounted .rigidly upon the bottom wall I4 of a conventional toilet flush tank I6 as by means of a nipple II to the upper end of which the lower end of the supply tube I2 is attached by threads I8. A flange I9 at the upper end of the nipple II bears against the upper face of a washer 2| below which a preferably conical, resilient sealing gasket 22 is dispose-d. This gasket 22 establishes a fluid-tight seal with the bottom wall I4 around the opening 23 through which the nipple I'I extends; and the exterior surface of the nipple I'I is provided with 40 a relatively long running thread 24 for the reception of a nut 26 adapted to be tightened against the under surface of the bottom wall I4 so as to crowd the gasket 22 against the edges of the opening 23 and thereby establish a suitable iiuid-tight seal preventing escape of water from the tank le through the opening 23. A

gland nut 2l, also engaged upon the thread 24,

is adapted to compress a packing 28 around the water supply pipe I3 which extends upwards into the enlarged lower portion of the bore 29 of the nipple II and thereby establish a suitably strong mechanical interconnection as well as a fluidtight seal between the supply pipe I3 and the nipple II.

The construction of the valve housing' I`I is best illustrated in Figure 2 and 6. This housing II is rigidly mounted yupon the upper end of the inlet tube I2 by a short, exteriorally threaded nipple 36 tted into the interior of the inlet tube I2 which is suiciently smaller in diameter than the body portion 3'I of the housing II to provide ample space 38 of annular cross-sectional form between the exterior surface of the inlet tube I2 and the bore of a discharge tube 39 within the upper end of which the body portion 31 of the housing is fitted. The body portion 31 is provided with a valve chamber 4| open at its upper end and closed at its lower end by a head 42 from the under surface of which the nipple 36 extends. A passage 43 preferably in the form of an axial bore extends through the nipple 3B and head 42, as well as through a preferably conical tubular extension 44 on the upper, or inner, surface of the head 42. The extreme upper edge of this tubular extension 44 serves as an annular valve seat 46 encircling the upper end of the passage or bore 43. A valve preferably in the form of a disc of suitably resilient material is carried at the lower end of a valve plunger 52 in position to engage upon the valve seat 45 when the plunger 52 is in its lowermost position and thereby close the passage 43 which otherwise establishes communication between the inlet tube |2 and the valve chamber 4| within the housing As a convenient means for guiding the plunger 52 for reciprocatory movement within the valve chamber 4|, it is formed of square cross-section and of such size that a diagonal of its square is only slightly less than the inside diameter of the valve chamber 4|, with the result that although the plunger 52 fits nicely within the valve chamber, ample passageways 53 are left between the flat sides of the plunger 52 and the interior surface of the body portion 31 of the Valve housing, so that when the valve 5| is lifted from the valve seat 46, water` entering the valve chamber 4| can flow upwards past the plunger 52 as Well as downwards through openings 54 in the body portion 31 of the valve housing just above the lower head 42. A portion 58 of reduced diameter is provided upon the exterior surface of the body portion 42 at its lower end so as to permit water flowing through the outlet openings 54 to pass into the discharge tube 39, the upper end of which is fitted upon the body portion 31. Water passing the valve 5| is therefore delivered by the discharge tube 39 to the interiorof the tank I6. The upper end of the valve housing is closed by a. cap EB of cylindrical form removably received upon the upper end of the discharge tube 39 and is retained in operative position thereupon by means of a transversely extending pin 51 which extends through suitably aligned holes in the body portion 31 of the valve housing, the upper end of the discharge tube 39 and the cylindrica1 wall of the cap G5. In this modification the pin (i1 is offset laterally from the center of these members through which it passes and in order to establish clearance between the vertically movable Valve plunger 52 and the pin 61, the central portion of the valve plunger 52 is relieved to provide a portion 68 of considerably reduced diameter as compared with the upper and lower square ends 69 and 1| of the plunger, as is clearly shown in Figure 2. In the modification illustrated in Figures 7 and 8, however, the 'pin 61' by means of which the cap BB'vis retained in position upon the upper end of the discharge tube 39 and the body portion 31 of thev valve housing is disposed centrally of these members; and to provide clearance between the pin 61 and the valve plunger 52 a transversely extending hole 68 is provided in the valve plunger 52', this hole 68' being sumciently larger than the pin 61 to permit the necessary vertical movement of the plunger 52 without interference from the transverse pin 61.

CII

Referring again to the modification of Figures 1 to 6, inclusive, the plunger 52 is provided with an extension 15, preferably of reduced diameter above the upper square section 69, extending through an opening 11 in the top of the cap 86. which opening is sufficiently larger than the portion 16 of the plunger to establish communication between the ambient atmosphere and the interior of the valve chamber 4| and thereby insure the maintenance of pressure at least as great as atmospheric within the valve chamber. The purpose of this feature is to prevent the development of siphonic conditions which other-wise might cause contaminated water to be drawn upward through the discharge tube 39 into the valve chamber 4| and thence into the water supply tube I3 if and when interruption should occur in the supply of water under pressure in the water supply system. However, in order to prevent escape of water` under pressure through the opening 11 when the Valve 5| is lifted from its seat and thus insure that al1 'water entering the valve chamber 4| flows to the tank I6 through the discharge tube 39, I provide a disc 18 of suitably flexible, resilient material seated within a groove 19 in the cylindrical portion 16 of the plunger 52 just below the interior surface of the top of the cap 66. When the valve 5| is first lifted from its seat 4G, even though it is mechanically lifted only a slight distance, water entering the valve chamber 4| will flow upward through the passageways 53 past 'the valve plunger 52, and when it engages the under surface of the disc 18, will deiiect the disc upwards until it engages the under surface of the top of the cap. Thus it may be seen that the disc 18 operates to close the opening 11 against escape of water from the valve chamber when water is flowing past the valve 5| into the valve chamber, and to open the opening in the absence of pressure within the valve chamber. It should be observed that the diameter of the disc 18 is sufficiently less than the inside diameter of the cap 66 to provide an annular clearance space 8| through which air entering the valve chamber through the opening 11 can pass the disc and thus insure pressure at least as great as atmospheric within the valve chamber 4| below the disc 18.

Means are provided for raising the valve 5| from its seat 46 when the level of water stored within the tank I6 is lowered. The float 85 is connected as by a rigid arm 81 to a bell crank lever 9U which preferably is bifurcated to provide two horizontally extending arms 88 embracing the cap 66 so as to make it possible to pivotally mount both of these two arms 88 upon the extended ends 89 of the transversely extending pin 61 to which reference has already been made. This pin 61 therefore serves the double function of releasably retaining the cap 66 upon the upper end of the valve assembly and also to pivotally mount the float 86 in operative position within the tank. Each of the horizontal arms 88 is preferably the horizontal portion of a bell crank lever 90 which also includes a downwardly extending arm' 9| to the lower end of which a link 92 is pivoted as by a pin 93. Preferably each of these links 92 is the downwardly extending portion of a yoke 94 since the upper ends of the two links 92 are joined by a horizontally extending portion 96 which preferably is integral with both of the two links 92. The extreme upper end of the valve plunger 52 extends relatively loosely through the horizontal portion 96 of the yoke 94; and a pin 91 extend-ing transversely through this upper end of the plunger 52 above the yoke 94 insures lifting the plunger 52 and its valve 5I when the yoke 94 is lifted, with the result that when the float 86 is lowered, as when the quantity of water stored within the tank I6 is reduced, thus causing the bell crank 89 to rotate in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figures 3 and 4, the yoke 94 will open the valve 5I.

The lower ends of the two links 92 are deflected laterally so as to curve around the pivot pin 61 su'iciently to dispose the pins 93 connecting the links 92 to the downwardly extending arms 9|, substantially in a dead-center position with respect to the fulcrum of the' bell crank 89 and the pin 9'I which serves as the pivotal connection between the links 92 and the plunger 52. Because of this arrangement, the rotary motion of the bell crank 89 about the axis of its fulcrum which results from lowering of the ball 86 when the level of the water within the tank I6 is lowered, causes only a very slight vertical movement of the yoke 99 and the valve plunger 52. Accordingly, a relatively great mechanical advantage is developed which causes the valve 5I to be pressed with great force against the seat 46 when the float 86 rises to its upper extreme of movement, thereby providing greater security against leakage past the valve 5| when the tank I6 is properly lled.

The modification in Figures 7 and 8 differs from that of Figures 1 to 6, inclusive, not only in respect to the positioning of the fulcrum for the iioat Valves ball crank which has been described hereinabove, but also in respect to the extent to which the lower ends of the links 92 are deilected around the axis of the pin 6l' which serves as the fulcrum for the bell crank lever 89. Since the links 92 in this modification are deflected less than in the first described modification, the mechanism approaches but does not quite attain a dead-center position. So closely does the mechanism approach the dead-center position, however, that substantially the same mechanical advantage is derived and yet a slightly greater lift of the valve 5 I from its seat is attained when the float is in its most widely open position. Another point of differentiation between the two modifications is that the extreme upper end of the valve plunger 52 instead of being round, as illustrated in the first described modification, is square, as indicated at IOI. This type of construction has been found advantageous in some instances in that it minimizes any tendency for binding between the horizontal portion 96 of the yoke 94 of which the links 92 form a part.

Thus it may be seen that I have provided a float valve construction which does not include any castings or forgings as constituent parts thereof, but which can be produced almost entirely by an assembly of parts adapted for rapid and economical manufacture by automatic screw machines. Both the inlet and discharge tubes I2 and 39, respectively, can be constructed most advantageously from conventional, standard sizes of tubing, while the valve housing II and valve plunger 52 can be produced at a high rate of speed from standard brass rod by automatic screw machines. The yoke 94 and bifurcated bell crank lever 90 can be formed by a stamping process from sheet stock of standard thickness and the fulcrum pin 6l can be produced from standard size metal rod. In this manner, the valve of the present invention is peculiarly adapted for quantity production at minimum cost and yet has been found to operate very positively to prevent leakage into the flush tank when the valve is closed and yet to permit refilling the tank rapidly and quietly when the oat 86 is lowered.

I claim:

1. In a flush tank valve mechanism, a valve housing comprising a body portion having a valve chamber therein, means defining a valve seat within said chamber, a plunger reciprocable within said body portion, a valve carried by the lower end of said plunger in position to engage said valve seat when said plunger moves downward, a cap carried by said housing to define the upper end of said chamber and having an opening in the top thereof through which said plunger extends with suiiicient clearance to permit flow through said opening around the associated portion of said plunger, a resiliently flexible disc carried by said plunger and extending radially outwards therefrom far enough to be flexed by fluid moving within said chamber and with respect to said disc, whereby seating of said disc against the top of said cap in position to close said opening around said plunger is assured when said plunger is adjacent the upper extreme of its movement but without requiring precise location of said plunger in said upper position, and means for moving said plunger within said housmg.

2. In a flush tank valve mechanism, a valve housing comprising a cylindrical body portion having a valve chamber therein of circular cross section, means defining a valve seat within said chamber adjacent the bottom thereof, a plunger comprising a non-circular portion guided reciprocably within said circular valve chamber of said body portion, a valve carried by the lower end of said plunger in position to engage said valve seat when said plunger moves downward, a cap carried by said housing to .define the upper endof said chamber and having an opening in the top thereof through which said plunger extends with sufficient clearance to establish communication between the exterior of said housing and said valve chamber around the associated portion of said plunger and means operably connected to the upper end of said plunger exteriorly of said housing for moving said plunger.

-JESSE C. OWENS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 147,693 Ross Feb. 17, 1874 644,224 Dreckman Feb. 27, 1900` 1,037,176 Fuller Aug. 27, 1912 1,160,395 Foley Nov. 16, 1915 1,196,996 Deusen Sept. 5, 1916 1,231,399 McPartland June 26, 1917 1,252,701 Jones Jan. 8, 1918 1,299,708 Habisreitinger Apr. 8, 1919 1,368,884 Bozeman Feb. 15, 1921 1,511,431 Schossow Oct. 14, 1924 1,929,455 Smith Oct. 10, 1933 2,290,145 Owens July 14, 1942 2,299,706 Svirsky Oct. 20, 1942 2,299,707 Svirsky Oct. 20, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 635,914 France Mar. 28, 1928 

